NATA Unveils FBO Audit Standard

In an attempt to curtail the number of audits currently competing for the FBO and charter industry’s business, the National Air Transportation Association has launched a single industry-wide standard that it hopes will eventually replace them all. The NATA Safety 1st Ground Audit Standard is designed to promote industry best practices and the development of safety management systems. “NATA members expressed concern that their companies are subject to numerous audits by charter operators, fractional program managers and many other consumers,” said Elizabeth Olsen, NATA’s Safety 1st program manager, and preparing for and hosting these audits is costly to the association’s membership in terms of both staff time and resources. Among the new program’s objectives is to achieve a standardized and consistent audit program that will be acceptable to all on-demand air charter operators and other ground-handling facility users. NATA hopes eventually to emulate the success of the program currently used by airline ground handling facilities.